


You'll Always Be My Boy

by greeny1710



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Jos Verstappen's A+ Parenting, Look I don’t like Ocon alright, M/M, Oh also, and neither does Max, can you stop me?, fight me, no, so is this me projecting my dislike? Yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23030473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeny1710/pseuds/greeny1710
Summary: Max didn’t want EstebanfuckingOcon back in the paddock anyway.If he could just keep his hands off of Daniel that would be great
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen
Comments: 24
Kudos: 174





	You'll Always Be My Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous on tumblr said **Are you taking Maxiel requests? If so could I request Australia 2020 max watches Esteban and Daniel filming and is jealous for Daniel to reassure him** and anon, thank you. I fucking love writing jealous Max and whilst I still made him a lil insecure bean bc I cannot deny torturing him, I loved this and thank you. I loved this. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it too :)

It wasn’t that Max didn’t trust Daniel.

That went without saying. He trusted no one more explicitly and he knew Daniel would never intentionally do something that would upset or cause harm to Max. 

It was Esteban that he didn’t trust. 

He’d never liked the guy anyway, found him smarmy and a suck-up, someone that refused to take responsibility and would always find a way to weasel out from getting in trouble. And Max detested it. 

It wasn’t even because his father had always drilled into him the importance of taking responsibility, that it was never the cars fault but instead a lack of concentration, a lack of talent, a lack of being a Real Man. 

For once, it had nothing to do with his father. 

Instead, it was his mother telling him that ‘if you didn’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say it at all’. And Esteban didn’t. 

He was always a shit. Always found a way to try and spin things, to blame others and make them think they were the bad person and not him. And Max detested anyone and anything that went against the morals his mum had instilled onto him. 

She was a brilliant lady and she always knew what she was meant to be talking about. And if she thought Esteban was a little snake then Max believed her. His Mum was the smartest lady he’d ever met and she’d never lie to Max. 

Which is why when he saw the promo pictures, Max immediately text his Mum. 

Initially, Max tried not to think too much of them. His Mum told him to calm down, told him that it was just _Daniel_ , there was nothing to it more than Daniel being _Daniel_. 

It didn’t quake the raging anxiety and fear coursing through his body. 

Daniel looked so comfortable, so confident and so _happy_ as he leant his arm against Esteban, as he made jokes about Esteban videoing him and zooming in, but then there’d been that video where Dan was finding out which 2020 F1 driver he would be and of course he had to get Esteban fucking Ocon. 

Max wondered what Esteban would’ve done had Daniel gotten Max. 

Probably deleted the video before it could get posted to be honest. 

Esteban had giggled and Daniel had smiled that smile that Max hadn’t seen when he’d been teammates with Nico and Esteban had gotten it before the season even started. 

And here Max was, laying around in their flat in Monaco, curled up in a jumper Daniel claimed to love but Max seemed to spent more time wearing, missing Daniel like crazy and all Daniel was doing was giving Esteban that look that said he liked being in your company. 

When Daniel phoned him that night, Max had been close to falling asleep and he’d barely been able to say many words before he was falling asleep with Daniel’s voice filling his ears. 

Max wished that he could have gone to the factory with him. Well, not actually the factory, but just going to England and being able to curl up in the hotel bed with Daniel because Max never slept as well as he did when he wasn’t in Dan’s arms. 

And if Max had have joined him, then he wouldn’t have had the nightmare, wouldn’t have woken up with screams dying on his lips and his hands shaking violently. And he wouldn’t have had to deal with Daniel not answering his phone when Max tried to ring him, to hear his voice and know that the man he loved the most was okay and he wasn’t dead in a crash. 

But Daniel didn’t answer the phone because he was too busy with Esteban. 

Max wasn’t sure if he was meant to have seen the photos of Esteban hanging off Daniel as he walked them back to the hotel, or whether it had infact all been part of a masterplan by Esteban to get Daniel under his thumb. 

There were few in the paddock that knew about their relationship, and yet all Max wanted was to scream from the rooftops about how much he loved Dan if it just meant that Esteban would get his hands off of _his_ boyfriend. 

Max was trying to pretend that the photos of Daniel and Esteban on that couch where Esteban had his arm over Daniel’s leg and also the photo of Daniel looking happily after Esteban as he stood up like the fucking string bean he was staring and giggling and not able to contain his glee didn’t exist. It didn’t do his mental health any good to sit and worry about what he didn’t have when Daniel was busy away loving life ~~far away from Max~~.

When Daniel had come home, it was like nothing had happened. They were back to normal and any chasing anxiety seemed to die down the second Daniel walked through the door, smiled dirtily, picked Max up and slammed him into the wall, rolling his hips and kissing him as deeply as he could before losing all self-control and just deciding to take Max right then and there. Max had no barriers up as he let Daniel fuck him against the wall, moaning wantonly and chanting Daniel’s name to remind him just how much he loved him. 

“I really missed you,” Max whispered after they’d both come down from their euphoric high, his voice echoing off of Daniel’s body and evaporating into the atmosphere. 

“I missed you too, baby, but I wasn’t gone long, only a few days.”

“I know, I still missed you.” 

Max almost felt like it was an inconvenience for him to miss Dan, for him to never want him to leave. But normally, Max was fine. Of course he missed Dan every second he was gone, when they couldn’t sleep in the same bed and exchange forks whilst they were eating to share the beauty of their plates and when Max was stumbling through the apartment at a time that felt way too early and would leave Daniel to guide him to where he needed to be. He knew it was due to his separation anxiety, that he wanted nothing more than to stay with Daniel and know that he loved him and wanted him by his side and not fear being left behind all because of a silly thing that he did. 

But now that Daniel had Esteban, he didn’t need Max, did he?

Max had tried to hide his anxiety, tried to hide the fear from Dan that he was going to fall for Esteban instead of Max and tried to not cling so hard to him. 

And it would’ve been easy, if it wasn’t for the fact that on Valentines Day, Daniel woke him up gently, pressing lingering kisses down his back and slowly coaxing him to climb out of bed and follow him on an adventure. Max had laughed and grinned so hard that day he still felt the ache in his cheeks from it. Watching Daniel carry their backpacks as they hiked up to a secluded spot in Monaco, the very place where they had their first date and said I love you for the first time and whispered promises into each other’s skin about their future lives together, had filled Max with joy, love and compassion. Daniel would throw cheeky grins over his shoulder as he tugged Max along behind him.

His hand never dropped Max’s once.

It was almost like Daniel knew, like he’d expected that Max would be struggling with his separation anxiety again now that they were going from being in each other’s pockets every second of the day to being separated for longer periods of time, until the race weekends would roll around again and it was no longer just a couple hours apart. It was days of being separated and trying to sneak around as though they were dirty and disgusting and they weren’t because Max was allowed to love Daniel and it was okay and he wasn’t wrong for that and Daniel still loved him and Daniel was _his_ boyfriend and he wasn’t going to leave Max just because he got scared about it sometimes. 

But then Esteban’s story went up.

And Max’s heart dropped out of his body. 

_’Real lovers dont go out on Valentines Day!’_

They’d gone out. 

And Max thought they’d had a lovely time. 

But Daniel said that real lovers don’t go out.

So what did that make Max?

Was their four years together nothing?

Was he simply a warm body that let Daniel have some fun and get adrenaline out and actually it wasn’t Max that he needed it was just a person?

Max was starting to worry himself sick and he knew that other people were noticing.

And by other people, Daniel wasn’t one of them.

It was Alex that caught him first.

“Hey, are things okay? You’ve been a bit quiet lately and I’m worried somethings up?”

Max shook his head.

“Everything’s fine.”

“You know you can talk to me about Daniel,” Alex gently prompted, which had Max’s eyes fly up to him and his anxiety threaten to scream. “The others haven’t noticed, but I see the way you turn to make a joke sometimes and your demeanour just drops and then you turn and look out the garage and I see you look at Renault. I’m not going to say anything to anyone or you again if you don’t want me to, but I want you and Dan to be happy and I’m just worried that he’s not making you happy anymore.”

“It’s okay,” Max shook his head, “It’s fine. Just nervous about the new season.”

Alex nodded but Max knew that he didn’t believe him.

“Okay, you know where I am if you want to sit in silence and wallow in self-pity or actually do want to talk, I’m good at listening if you need that.”

Max sat on his hands and looked at his feet, trying to stop his hands from shaking at Alex being so kind. Alex was one of the nicest people Max had ever met and Max still didn’t think he deserved having such nice people in his life. Not when his head shouted at him that all they would do is leave him one day because that’s what people did.

And it’s what Daniel was doing.

Normally, just before they went to Melbourne, Daniel would drag Max across to Perth and they’d spend a few days with his family, and Max loved it. He loved being with Grace and Joe, and talking to Michelle (which only ever made him miss Victoria that bit more) and getting to play with Wilf (which only ever made him want a child with Daniel that bit more). And once they were ready, they’d either fly from Perth to Melbourne or even drive the long-ass journey, the windows down and Daniel’s terrible off-tune singing the only sound as they drove the long open roads together, their hands forever touching in some way and Max curled in his seat and watching Daniel be at peace with the roads. 

Not this time. 

They flew out and spent a couple of days with the Ricciardo’s, before Daniel got a phone call that he needed to fly to Melbourne earlier than expected. 

“You’ll be okay, won’t you?” Daniel had said, kissing Max languidly on the doorstep of his parents house, “You’ll be in Melbourne before you know it and we’ll do something fun whilst we’re there. I just, I have promo to do and you know it’ll be boring you stuck there alone and at least if you stay here, Mum has an excuse to fuss over you.”

“I’ll be okay,” Max nodded, biting the inside of his lip to stop the tears from escaping, even though he really didn’t want Daniel to leave him behind, “Have fun.”

Daniel smiled and kissed Max as deeply as he could before pulling away just in time for the taxi to pull up to take him to the airport. 

“You’re the best, I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“See you soon.”

And when Daniel climbed into the car, there was barely a second glance at Max before he was grinning at his phone and his thumbs were tapping violently against the screen. 

It used to be that Max’s phone would vibrate the second they were apart, some lewd text waiting for him of all the things Daniel would do to him the second they were together again, but he never got one this time. 

And Max tried to not feel jealous. Tried not to hate Ocon.

But the fucker just made it so damn easy to hate him when he was dragging _Max’s Boyfriend_ away from him. 

He didn’t want to cry because he was sad or anxious (well, he probably did but there was other emotions over powering him at the moment), he was just jealous because he knew that Daniel could find people way better than Max and now he was pulling away and Max wanted to reel him back in and hold him tight. Let Daniel mark him up and claim him. Scream to the world that, no matter what, Max was Daniel’s and Daniel was Max’s. 

Grace had looked worriedly over at him a couple of times as he stared compulsively at his phone, waiting to hear from Daniel. He needed to hear that he was okay, that he was fine, that he was going to catch up with Max the second Max arrived in Melbourne and he wasn’t leaving him and never coming back like his separation anxiety was screaming at him. At the very least, Daniel could’ve text back in response to whether he got to Melbourne okay. 

He must’ve done or Renault had just hired a body double who looked identical to Daniel in every single way just so that they could film their promo for 2020. 

And if they could hire a body double, they could at least return the real Daniel to Max because he deserved him more than Esteban _fucking_ Ocon did. 

Max watched the promo roll in, watched the silly things that Ocon did to make Daniel laugh, saw the way that Daniel seemed to never be off his Instagram.

And if Max kept checking Daniel’s following list to check if he was following Ocon, well, that was just between us and him. 

Flying into Melbourne was lonely without Dan, even if Grace had sat with him and comfortingly ran her thumb over his knuckles when his anxiety surrounding flying seemed to rear its ugly head. He loved Grace, he really did, she reminded him of his own Mum in more ways than one, but it wasn’t Daniel. And Max just wanted Daniel more than anything. 

If Max could sprint from the airport to Albert Park where Daniel was filming promo with Esteban _fucking_ Ocon, he would have. But instead, he maintained a level of composure and he wasn’t due at the track until Wednesday when the season would really start to kick off and Daniel was busy and Max couldn’t expect him to lay down and let Max love him again when he was busy. 

It wasn’t just him having a new teammate, it was Daniel’s homerace. It was Daniel’s home. He always loved it here and he had every intention of the race going a thousand times better than it had in 2019. And Max knew that kicking off his new team with such a terrible start had hit Daniel hard, and he was doing everything he could to ensure that 2020 went better. 

It didn’t mean Max had to like it though. 

And he would’ve been fine (he wasn’t fine and he was never fine and he needed to stop saying that but it was heavily ingrained into him and so it wasn’t like he actually would stop), if it wasn’t for the hearing _that_ stupid little throwaway comment. 

It shouldn’t have hurt, and it shouldn’t have mattered.

But it really did hurt and it really did matter.

Max watched Esteban _fucking_ Ocon and Daniel doing an interview, sitting together on the stage and giggling like schoolboys, as Max watched on from the side. Alex had come up beside him, nudged him gently and smiled. 

“It’s alright, you know, they’re just friends.”

“He doesn’t deserve friends.” Max spat. 

He knew he was being petty and he knew that Esteban _fucking_ Ocon did deserve friends, but it didn’t mean that Max had to like it and he definitely didn’t respect it. 

“Do you think-” Max started only to get cut off and abruptly snap his head to look at Daniel as Ocon’s cackle cut through him.

“That’s the good thing about having a really young teammate, silly jokes still work,” Daniel grinned and Max wanted to throw up. 

It was _him_ that used to have that comment thrown at him. 

It was _him_ that used to roll his eyes and cough to try and stop laughing.

It was _him_ that used to try and not give Daniel absolute heart eyes because he made Max laugh like no one ever had before. 

And now it was Esetban _fucking_ Ocon that was the recipient of that. 

It hurt more knowing that Daniel was recylicing words he used to say to Max.

Max knew he shouldn’t get jealous, that he could trust Daniel and that Daniel loved him. 

But that didn’t stop him from wanting to smash Ocon’s face into the ground and run him over thirty-three times and three more times just for good luck with his car because it should be _him_ that gets those jokes and comments thrown at him.

Max couldn’t stay here and see Daniel flirt with Esteban. 

He didn’t want to watch Daniel fall in love with Esteban. 

Anyone else, fine, Max would be devastated but he could deal with it.

Not Ocon. 

Not the one guy that Max had spent many, many hours screaming about and cursing his very existence. 

Because Ocon was a better version of Max. Just not a better driver.

But was that all Max had to offer? 

He could drive, wow, brilliant, excellent. What an original concept. 

But Ocon was different. He had the confidence and that awkward cheekiness that no one really knew how to deal with but found endearing. He was arrogant but people didn’t care. 

When Max was arrogant and awkward, he was called out for it. 

Daniel always said he found it endearing. That no matter what, Max was always going to be Max. The awkward, arrogant, funny little nerd of a boyfriend. 

Apparently that was Daniel’s type.

Max forced his eyes back onto the stage, and kept watching the way that Esteban kept finding reasons to touch Daniel, kept finding reasons to move closer and sling his arm onto Daniel in some way, and Daniel was preening under it. He adored the attention, loved it when people were paying attention to him and finding him funny and attentive. Daniel loved physical contact. Loved dragging Max to sit on his lap and loved holding his hand when they were in the comfort of their own home. 

Max used to hate physical contact, would shy away when Daniel would press close to him or try and hold his hand, would pull away if Daniel rested his hand on Max’s knee. 

But the longer they dated, the more Max realised, it wasn’t him hating physical contact. He was just touch-starved and it freaked him out when people touched him. 

He didn’t know how to deal with people wanting to touch him and love him and care for him because he wasn’t used to it. 

And though it took Daniel slowly easing him into it, once Max was comfortable with it, he found that he had opened himself up to a whole new world that did nothing but fill him with glee and joy. It was the best feeling in the world and Daniel’s hands were always the right side of warm, always the right level of callous, always the right type of love. 

Max missed it. 

He bet Esteban _fucking_ Ocon didn’t miss it. He never did anything but touch and get touched by Max’s boyfriend.

There was barely a year of age between them and yet Max felt like an absolute child in comparison. 

He may be a better driver, but Esteban seemed like a better, more well-rounded person. He didn’t need someone to teach him how to love you.

Max did. He’d needed Daniel for all of that. 

And he wanted Daniel back in his arms more than anything because he was _Max’s boyfriend_ and Max missed him more than anything he could ever imagine. 

“Hey, what are you doing here?” A gentle voice said, cupping his elbow just enough that it was intimate without being obvious.

“My fucking job,” Max snapped, staring coolly at Daniel.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re being snappy.”

“You’re being shitty.”

Alex was stood beside the two, his eyes frantically ping-ponging between them as Max started at Daniel with cold eyes. 

“Max, what’s wrong? You’re being weird.”

“How fucking grateful of you to notice,” Max grinned. It wasn’t a nice grin though, it was pained and forced and Alex really looked like he wanted to die right then and there when he saw the way that Daniel immediately prickled under Max’s grin-not-grin. 

“What is your problem? You’re acting like a child.”

“I guess, people acting like a child is your type, is it not?”

“What’s that supposed to me?” Daniel said, frowning as he shrugged and stared at Max.

“You know precisely what I mean.”

“No I don’t!”

“Daniel!” Esteban said, coming up beside Daniel and placing his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, “They’re waiting for us.”

Max knew he shouldn’t, knew he should’ve kept his hands fisted at his sides but the second he saw Esteban’s fingers curling over Daniel’s shoulder, he couldn’t hold it in. With reflexes that could only be garnered by an F1 driver, Max shot his hand forward and pushed Esteban’s hand off.

“Keep your fucking hands off him.” Max spat, glaring at Esteban with every fibre of his being. 

“What?”

“Keep your fucking hands off him,” Max repeated, “He’s not yours, and so you can keep your fucking dirty hands off him.”

“Max!” Daniel shouted, pushing Max away from getting even closer to Esteban. 

“He’s not yours, and I’ll fucking break your hand if you touch him again.” Max kept going, staring at Esteban with such intensity that he should’ve been dead. 

“Calm down!” Daniel said, pushing himself between Esteban and Max to stop Max from getting closer. 

Max wanted nothing more than to punch Esteban in the face, to break every bone in his hand, to destroy his life because he was taking Daniel and Daniel was _his boyfriend_ and why should Esteban _fucking_ Ocon get to keep touching Dan when Max wasn’t allowed to? No. It was bullshit. He wanted Daniel and he didn’t think he should have to keep fighting with Esteban to get him back.

“What is your problem?!” Daniel said, holding Max against the wall. 

“You’re my boyfriend, not his!” Max screamed, and he saw the way that Esteban’s eyes widened and Daniel’s jaw dropped and Alex sighed, “You’re not his!”

“Stop screaming!” Daniel hissed, shoving his hand over Max’s mouth when he saw people staring.

“No! You’re _my boyfriend_! Why should I keep fighting with him for you?!”

Daniel kept his hand over Max’s mouth as he turned to Esteban.

“I’ll be late, tell Cyril something came up. I need to talk to Max.” 

Esteban nodded frantically and walked off toward Renault. He looked over his shoulder a couple of times, his eyes meeting the glaring souls of Max’s anger and jealousy, the heaving anger of Max’s chest moving slowly. 

“What was that about?” Daniel asked, his tone calmer now that it was only him and Max. 

Alex vanished at a point that neither Dan nor Max were aware of, but now it was only them and Max had gone from seething anger to an insecure mess in a matter of seconds. 

Max dropped down to sit on a step, pulling his knees into his chest and fiddling with his fingers, trying to avoid looking at Daniel. Now that the moment was over, Max was embarrassed by his own behaviour and he hated what he’d done. He’d not only forced Daniel into coming out to his teammate but he’d forced himself out and he’d also embarrassed Daniel to hell and back because he was an insecure, jealous little brat of a boyfriend. 

“Baby? What’s wrong? What happened there?” Daniel gently coaxed, squatting down so that he could look up at Max and smile lovingly at him. “You don’t normally react like that, what’s wrong? What have I done?”

“He wants you,” Max whimpered, “And you’re mine.”

“Of course I’m yours, baby, I don’t want anyone but you. Esteban’s just a teammate, you’re my boyfriend. You’re way more important.”

“You keep going for him though,” Max said, insecurity dripping through, “You left me…”

Max’s eyes were watery yet through the tears he saw the moment that Daniel’s frown of confusion swapped to being a grimace of regret. 

“Oh fuck…” Daniel murmured, “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to leave you behind, I’m so sorry Max, I am.”

“You never text me to say you were okay.”

“I didn’t mean to forget,” Dan admitted, “I genuinely saw your text and responded in my head and forget to type the words out. Everything was so manic and I should’ve text you to tell I was safe and landed here okay. I’m sorry for ignoring you and forgetting about you.”

“I don’t want to lose you to him.”

“I’m not going anywhere, baby. You’re mine and I’m yours, Maxy, you know that’s how it is.”

Daniel rubbed his hand up and down Max’s calf as he talked, keeping him grounded and reminding him that regardless of what Max’s anxiety said, he was still there for him.

“You’re my boy, my bestfriend and that’s what I need. You don’t need to be jealous of Ocon,” Daniel smiled, “He’s not into me and I’m 100% not into him.”

“I’m sorry,” Max whispered, “I don’t mean to get jealous.”

“It’s okay, Maxy, I understand, you can get jealous as much as you want, but you don’t need to be jealous. You’re the person I love, you’re the person I want, and you’re the person I need.”

“I only get jealous because I’m afraid someone’s going to make you happier than I do,” Max said, his voice shaky and nervous as he screwed his eyes shut. 

“Max? Max, baby, look at me, open your eyes.”

Max reluctantly pulled his eyes open and he stared at Daniel.

“No one will ever make me happier than you do, okay? Not Ocon, not Charles, not Alex, no one. You’re my guy, my boyfriend. You’re the guy I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, and I know you’re nervous about Ocon being back and I know I’ve spent a lot of time with him lately and I’ve definitely flirted with him more than I should’ve, but it’s not flirting in the sense that I want to be with him.”

“You flirt with everyone.” Max nodded.

“Yeah, I do. And I know I shouldn’t-”

“I don’t want you to stop, that’s what makes you _you_.”

“But if it makes you uncomfortable I’m going to stop.”

“Don’t,” Max shook his head, running his fingers over Daniel’s curls. God he’s missed that. “I just really missed you and I know you were busy and I know that was out of your control, but I just felt like I was losing you and I don’t want to lose you.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You don’t need to get jealous and you don’t need to think I’m going to leave you. Things have been hectic, but I promise, I will be around more and I’ll stop flirting with Esteban-”

“About his insta story, do you actually believe what you wrote?” Max interrupted, tilting his head as he listened to Daniel.

“What did I write?”

“Real lovers don’t go out on Valentine’s Day,” Max recited. The words were burned into his conscience, hammering through his soul as he repeated them to Daniel. 

Daniel laughed slightly but shook his head. 

“I did write that, but I didn’t mean it like _that_. It was a joke at Ocon and a couple of the engineers because they were grilling me about my plans and we aren’t out so I made a joke about how my other half was too much of a homebody that we won’t go to a restaurant. And he wasn’t meant to put it on Instagram, and I only did it to get them off my back, but I didn’t know he was going to do that and I promise I don’t believe it. I loved our Valentine’s Day, getting to spend that day with you and hiking and spending the day in our favourite place. I loved it because I love spending time with you. Never think that what I think we have isn’t real because it is. And I love you, Max. Always.”

“I’m sorry I got jealous I was-”

“I don’t mind if you get scared or jealous or insecure or anxious. That’s what makes you my Max, and I love you. But you don’t need to be jealous of Ocon or anyone else because it’s always going to be you. And I promise, tonight, we are going to spoon no matter how much you whinge and I’m going to fuck you real slow and real good, if you want to of course, and I’m going to show you just how much I love you, Max Verstappen.”

Max smiled and dropped his head onto Daniel’s shoulder, bringing his arms around his shoulders so he could hug Daniel to him. 

“I really want that,” Max whispered, “I love you too.”

“Excellent, so stop getting jealous of Ocon, because I love you Max, I really do, but if you imply that I wanna date Ocon one more time I might cry in horror.”

Max giggled slightly and wiped his eyes. The tears brushed themselves away whilst Max closed his eyes, breathing in the smell of Daniel and the love of him. Max had missed having Daniel in his arms and he knew he was being dumb in his jealousy, but he missed Daniel being with him and he missed being able to laugh at all of his dumb jokes and commentary. Having him back, even though it had literally only been a few days, was the most wholesome feeling in the world and Max wanted nothing more than to stay here forever. 

Max couldn’t wait for the day that he could stand on that stage and scream that he loved Daniel Joseph Ricciardo with all of his heart, because that’s what Daniel did to him. No matter how silly Max felt and how much he thought he irritated Dan with his anxiety and insecurities, he knew none of it mattered because Daniel loved him and all of his dumb quirks and fears, and that’s why Max loved him. 

Daniel would always find someone that made him happy, and Max hoped beyond all hell that he would always be that person. 

As long as it wasn’t _Esteban fucking Ocon_ , Max didn’t mind. 

Just anyone but Esteban Ocon. 

Daniel deserved better than that weirdo.

**Author's Note:**

> All those weeks of reblogging Ocon and Dan content just to write about Max not liking Ocon. We Stan a legend. 
> 
> Also I find it hilarious that it took ages for Daniel to follow Ocon on Instagram. I literally looked a few days ago and he didn’t and now he does, but for the sakes of this let’s just pretend he still doesn’t lol
> 
> Comments, kudos and feedback always greatly appreciated💛
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you want to come and shout about Maxiel or anything else with me


End file.
